This Kiss
by katielynn23
Summary: Hermione returns back to The Three Broomsticks for a Hogwarts Reunion. But what she doesn't know is that she's finally going to be able to grow up and prove something to Ron, that she should have done along time ago...


Hey, this is just a one-shot, so don't bother asking if it's going to be continued or anything because it's not. I got this idea from a Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul a while back. I don't remember which one it was but I give credit to it since the idea came from there. I posted this about a year and a half ago and then forgot about it, so now I've done some editing/re-writing and made it a bit better than what it was. Hope you enjoy it! Review it please, I'm always open to some constructive critism. Don't just say it was weak, tell me WHY. But preferably in an email. haha. Thanks. katie_davis23@hotmail.com  
  
This Kiss by katielynn  
  
Hermione walked briskly down the snow covered streets of Hogsmeade towards The Three Broomsticks. She hadn't been there since she was seventeen and it was a stretch to say she was eager to go back.  
  
The Three Broomsticks was hosting the annual Hogwarts Reunion for the graduating students from Hermione's year. Originally, she'd had no plans to go, what with being busy with work and all. But that was before she'd received an owl from Ron Weasley, telling her that he'd be there and was looking forward to seeing her. Her breath had caught in her throat when she'd opened the letter and read its contents. She hadn't seen or spoken to Ron in four years.  
  
She, Ron and another boy, Harry Potter, had been best friends all throughout their Hogwart years. But after graduation, they began to drift apart. They'd been through so much together. Seven years spent constantly together with only a few weeks apart is hard. They'd grown tired of one another and it seemed that their friendship had become predictable. It seemed that each time they were together a new, "save-the-world" adventure was always around the corner. They wanted to get away from that and start a new life, which meant putting a little distance between one another.  
  
But not having spoken to Ron wasn't what made Hermione hesitant to attend the reunion. Throughout their years together at Hogwarts, she'd always had a little crush on him. She thought he had felt the same way too and so did everyone else.  
  
Their last year together, things began to escalate. Their friends were pushing for them to get together and the two of them began to flirt openly. Part of Hermione thought Ron was just caving in to the pressure the other guys were putting on him but the other part of her believed that he really did like her.  
  
She soon began to realize that it wasn't just a simple crush she was feeling anymore, it was bigger than that. It was more than just blushing whenever he walked into a room or getting butterflies in her stomach whenever he said something. She had fallen in love with him; she just hoped he felt the same way.  
  
New Year's Eve came around and the Gryffindor Common Room was filled with anticipation. There were a lot of rumors going around about who would be with whom for midnight and the famous New Year's Kiss. Everyone assumed Ron and Hermione would share a kiss.  
  
A few minutes before midnight, a group of Gryffindor's (including Ron and Hermione) walked up to the Astronomy Tower to ring in the New Year. And as the clock ticked down, Ron led Hermione over to the dark corner as far away from everyone as possible. And as it hit midnight, he leaned in to kiss her and she smiled wide, hardly believing that what she'd been wishing for years was about to come true. But as she did, he ended up kissing her teeth. She let out a horrified squeal and took off down the steps back to her dormitory.  
  
Hermione had never been more embarrassed about anything in her entire life. She avoided Ron for weeks, before he pulled her aside to have a "talk".  
  
"Listen Hermione, uh.. About what happened... It's not a... I mean... I think it's just better if we... If we.." Ron stuttered. His nervousness was showing and there was a slight redness to his cheeks. Hermione had always thought he was adorable when he blushed.  
  
"Just be friends?" Hermione asked, ending the sentence for him but praying that he would disagree with it.  
  
Ron's face brightened completely. "Exactly! I'm so glad you feel the same way. It'd be way too weird if we, uh.. you know.."  
  
Hermione felt her stomach drop and she tried desperately not to show her disappointment. "Yeah, it would be weird.. Listen Ron, I've got to go do some Potions homework. I'll see you at dinner." She could feel her eyes beginning to tear up and she quickly raced off down the hall with tears pouring down her cheeks.  
  
Being seventeen and having your heart broken is a hard thing for anyone but Hermione took it especially hard. She looked towards her impending graduation has her escape from the heartbreak she was feeling. What she didn't realize however was that she couldn't escape it, she just needed to move on. And she did, sort of.  
  
As she stood outside the front door of the Three Broomsticks, Hermione said a silent prayer that she'd be able to keep her cool around Ron and not make a total fool of herself. She hoped that she'd be able to have a friendly conversation with him without mention of that fateful New Year's or anything to do with it.  
  
The room was exactly as she'd remembered it. The dim lighting made the room fairly dark but yet Hermione was still able to pick out a few familiar faces in the crowd. She recognized the round faced man sitting over by the window as Neville Longbottom, he was joined by a few other Gryffindors, whom Hermione hadn't seen for ages. She was about to walk over to them, when she heard a squeal of delight and a flash of red.  
  
"Hermione!" the girl screamed as she threw her arms around her, nearly knocking her off balance.  
  
Instantly, Hermione knew who she was, there was no mistaking the flaming red hair or the sparkling green eyes. "Ginny? Oh Gin, it's so good to see you. How are you? I thought this was only for the one graduating class?"  
  
Ginny laughed. It was evident how much the girl had grown and matured since the last time Hermione had seen her. Her freckles were gone and her eyes seemed to jump out at you in a way they hadn't before.  
  
"I'm doing well. I haven't seen you in ages! What have you been up to?" Ginny asked, smiling as she pulled her friend over to a nearby empty table.  
  
"It's been a crazy year," Hermione told her. "I've just had that latest book come out and I've been traveling the world it seems promoting it. What about you Ginny? How are your brothers? How's work?" The last Hermione had heard, Ginny had followed her father and older brother's lead and gotten a job at the Ministry of Magic.  
  
Ginny smiled. "My brothers are all doing well, I suppose. Fred and Angelina are getting married next month and the last I heard Charlie was thinking about proposing to his girlfriend Amelia." Her face darkened slightly before she went on. "After Mum's stoke, I've been living at home helping to take care of her. It's been rough but it's the daughter's duty I guess."  
  
"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I hadn't heard. How is she?" Hermione felt something inside her drop. Why hadn't she been known?  
  
"She's all right. The stoke affected her speech and her left arm is pretty much useless now. But we manage. There are some things she can't do for herself and Dad's busy with work as always, so I moved in to help." Ginny glanced at her watch and sighed deeply. "Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry but I have to go. I promised Dad I'd be home early so he could get into the office for a few hours tonight. Owl me sometime okay? I'd love to catch up with you over lunch or something."  
  
"Of course I will. We'll do it soon. Bye Gin, take care." Hermione said to her, standing up and giving her another squeeze.  
  
"You too. Ron's at a table in the corner by the way, over by the kitchen door." And without another word, Ginny was gone.  
  
Smiling with a kind of sadness she hadn't been feeling before, Hermione turned back around to look at her surroundings. Just as Ginny had said, there was a table at the back darkly lit and she could just make out the shadow of Ron. She felt a little flutter in her stomach.  
  
"Oh for gosh sakes, Hermione, he probably remembers you as that silly girl who had a crush on him and who couldn't kiss." She thought to herself as she watched him from across the room.  
  
Suddenly, inspiration hit her and she felt confidence she hadn't felt in a long time. "Well, I'll just have to prove to him that I've grown up and that I do know how to kiss." Hermione said to herself quietly as she began to talk toward him.  
  
"Hermione?" Ron asked with a smile on his face as he stood up to greet her.  
  
She stayed silent and kept walking until she was standing directly in front of him. "Do you remember that last New Year's at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked him, while looking down at her hands.  
  
Ron blushed lightly and Hermione remembered how adorable she'd always thought he looked when he did that. Ron coughed in to his hand. "Uh, of course I do Herm. What does that have to do with anything?"  
  
"I just wanted to do this." She took a deep breath, leaned forward and kissed him with everything in her. Every bit of love and heartbreak she'd felt for him over the past thirteen years went into that kiss and when she pulled back, Ron was a bright cherry red.  
  
Ron took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. It was only then that Hermione noticed the woman standing next to him. "Uh.. I'm really glad that you've improved.. But Hermione..uh.. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend. Lara this is Hermione." 


End file.
